Big Leagues
by CaskettOlicityJeca
Summary: SHIELD Junior Agent Catalina Ward has grown up training to be a SHIELD agent just like her older brother. What happens when she worms her way onto Coulson's team to use one of their missions as her "grad mission"? Chaos is bound to ensue, especially when Catalina and Skye join forces to teach Grant to live a little. Will Cat cope with the pressure of being in the big leagues?
1. Junior Agent Ward

**Ok. So, this is my first Agents Of SHIELD story! Let me know what you think!**

**_Disclaimer:_****I don't own Agents Of SHIELD, or anything Marvel-related.**

* * *

**Third Person POV**

The team walk onto the 'bus', Skye and Grant trailing at the back of the unconventional group. After two relatively relaxing weeks at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, they are heading back out on a new mission. The floor of the huge airplane is beginning to close when a female voice shouts, capturing Agent Ward and Skye's attention.

"WAIT! GRANT! GRANT DANIEL WARD, I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T WAIT FOR ME, ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE!" A relatively tall blonde haired woman appears, jumping up and swinging herself into the plane. "SON OF A BITCH!" She exclaims as the floor closes completely, almost squashing her in the process.

"Cat?" Grant asks, his eyes widening in surprise.

The stunning blonde grins excitedly and runs at Grant, throwing her arms around him tightly. Grant laughs happily, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist as he picks her up and spins her around.

"How are you, beautiful?" Grant asks, putting 'Cat' back down on the ground.

"Fantastic!" She exclaims. "I didn't think I'd make it to HQ in time to see you. Fury told me you were leaving today, so I had to pressure Hill into letting us come in early."

Grant chuckles, rolling his eyes. "What did you blackmail her with this time?"

"Don't you wanna know?" Cat smirks at him, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously

Skye watches their encounter, glaring jealously at the tall, stunning blonde who gets to hug Agent Ward.

"Ward!" Agent Coulson's voice called down to them.

"Yes?" Both Grant and the blonde look up at him.

"Upstairs. Now. We need to talk."

Agent Ward and Cat look at each other, identical looks of 'we're in trouble now' painted on their faces.

"Uh oh…" Cat says in a sing-song voice. "We're in trouble now."

"Just keep your big mouth shut and we'll be fine." Grant responds dryly.

"Sure thing, Mr Bossypants." Cat says sarcastically as she follows Grant up the spiral stairs.

"You coming, Skye?" Grant asks, looking down at the brunette who hasn't moved since Cat first made her appearance on the bus.

"Uh yeah I'll be up in a minute. I just have to talk to Simmons quickly." Skye replies.

Grant nods and throws him arm over Cat's shoulder as the pair trail to Coulson's office. When they are out of sight, Skye walks into the lab.

"Who's the blonde?" She asks Simmons immediately.

"That's Catalina." Jemma Simmons answers distractedly as she pours some sort of liquid into a test tube.

"And who, exactly, is this Catalina person?"

"Grant's little sister." Leo Fitz explains as he walks over.

Skye's eyebrows shoot up in shock. "His… little sister?"

"Yes. Catalina Abigail Ward." Jemma expands. "S.H.I.E.L.D. Junior Academy Leading Agent, best in the world amongst the other 'under 18 years of age' agents. In my opinion, she would give Agent Ward a run for his money at being totally kickass."

Skye quirks an eyebrow in amusement at Simmons' words. "I didn't know Ward had a sister."

"Oh yes. Two brothers and one sister." Fitz says to her.

"Huh." Skye says thoughtfully. "Now I feel stupid. I thought they were together. As in, dating."

"That is disgusting." Jemma wrinkles her nose up at the thought.

"Hey, it's not my fault! I didn't know that she was his sister, okay!" Skye defends herself.

"You were jealous." Simmons says in a sing-song voice.

"Was not." Skye grumbles.

"Yes you were." Fitz agrees with his lab partner.

"I was not… urgh!" Skye sighs in frustration, knowing she won't win this argument with the two nerds ganging up against her. "You know what, I'm just gonna go now. Thank you for supplying the information I was seeking."

"You are most welcome." Simmons says as Skye leaves the lab, and she calls out as an afterthought. "And don't be jealous of Agent Ward's sister!"

Skye rolls her eyes and stomps up the spiral stairs, following the path that the siblings had taken.

* * *

**Cat's POV**

"So who's the pretty girl?" I ask, looking up at Grant curiously.

"Who?" He wonders, slightly thrown by the question.

"You know, slim, tan skin, brown hair, brown eyes, looks a bit slutty." I say cheekily.

Grant gives me a withering look. "Her name is Skye and she is not slutty."

"Ooooooh someone's getting a bit defensive. You like her, don't you?"

"Of course I like her. She's a member of the team; I have to like her."

"No, I mean you _like_ like her." I press, watching triumphantly as Grant squirms nervously. "I knew it!" I fist pump the air. "You know, I'm going to hook you two up."

"And they say you're the best Junior Agent S.H.I.E.L.D. has." Grant sighs.

"I am the best Junior Agent S.H.I.E.L.D. has and you know it." I retort.

"Mmm I'll believe it when I see it. And playing matchmaker for your big brother does not prove to anyone that you are strategic or logistical."

"Perhaps not, but it does show that I am wonderful at intervening and enforcing."

"You're full of shit, you know that, right?" Grant asks me seriously as we walk through the airplane.

* * *

**Third Person POV**

"Agent Ward. Junior Agent Ward." Coulson greets the brother and sister duo when they enter his office.

"Agent Coulson." Catalina nods her head at Coulson.

"What are you doing here, Catalina?" Couslon sighs.

"Visiting my big bro." Cat answers promptly.

"Why?"

"Coulson." Ward growls warningly.

"What? This is a mission. When agents just show up out of the blue with no explanation, you have to assume that they've been compromised." Coulson shrugs his shoulders.

"I'm here because I haven't seen him in five months!" Cat exclaims. "And if I didn't see him now, I wouldn't have seen him for at least another four months."

"Fine." Coulson says. "But we're going on a mission. A high priority, high risk mission. We're flying over the academy tomorrow, so we'll drop you off then. You have tonight to spend with Grant and the team. Use it wisely." Coulson states.

"Orrrrrr…" Cat says, dragging out the word. "I could totally use this as my graduation mission." She suggests.

Coulson raises an eyebrow for her to expand, while Grant promptly snaps, "No!"

"Oh come on!" Cat exclaims, exasperated. "I could totally have graduated two years ago, if it wasn't for you! I'm good enough! I'm better than 'good enough'! I know I would have graduated at some stage within the last two years if it weren't for my annoyingly overprotective brother!"

Skye stops in the doorway of Coulson's office at that moment. "What annoyingly overprotective brother?"

Catalina looks over her shoulder at the brunette, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smirking. She looks back at Grant and wiggles her eyebrows.

Grant glares at her warningly but knows he can't say anything without his feelings – which he is still confused and in denial about – for Skye becoming obvious.

"Grant is just being an overprotective ass, like usual." Cat says to Skye. "I want to come on this mission with you guys, and use it as my big grad mission, but Grant won't let me."

"That'd be cool!" Skye exclaims. "You should totally do it!"

"Thank you!" Cat exclaims, stepping back to stand beside Skye and giving her older brother puppy dog eyes. Looking beside her, she sees Skye giving Grant pleading puppy dog eyes, too.

"No." Grant says, his eyes flipping between the two young women. "I can barely cope with one of you at a time. Having the two of you together will send everyone insane. It's not happening. We're dropping you off at the academy when we fly over it. End of discussion."

"Fine, you wanna play like that?" Cat asks, levelling Grant with a confident look. "Let's give my dear trainer Tasha a call and see what she thinks of this."

Grant allows his head to fall back against the wall with a loud bang when Cat pulls out her mobile phone. Coulson rolls his eyes and runs his hands down his face in defeat as the girl makes an exaggerated effort of typing in the number.

They both know that no matter what they say, Cat will be coming on the mission. Because damn, that girl has connections.

* * *

**Ta da! Guess who the mysterious 'Tasha' is!**

**I know Ward is probably a bit OOC, but I think he'd be a very different person around his younger siblings than he is with the team.**

**Anyway, review and let me know what you thought of it!**


	2. MTGWTHF

**Ok, so this chapter is from both Catalina's and Skye's povs. Thank you all for the amount of support you guys have given me! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Skye and Cat will start getting up to mischief in the next chapter hehehe! **

**I'm glad that most people didn't think Ward was too OOC. Personally, I think he would be a very different person around his younger brother and sister, so that's what I tried to capture in the last chapter.**

**This chapter references characters from ****_The Avengers_**** and ****_The Fantastic Four_****, too.**

**_Disclaimer:_****I don't ownn ****_AOS_****, ****_The Avengers_****, ****_The Fantastic Four_****, or anything else Marvel related.**

* * *

**Cat's POV**

I press the phone to my ear and listen to it ring.

The woman answers on the seventh ring. _"What do you want?"_

"Well it's lovely to hear your voice too, Tasha." I say sarcastically.

I can practically feel her rolling her eyes at me. _"I'm sorry. It's lovely to hear from you, Catalina. Now, is there anything I can do for you?"_ She says just as sarcastically as my previous comment.

"Oooooh feeling a bit sassy today, are we?"

She sighs, but I know she's smiling. _"What's up, Cat?"_

"Not much. Just, you know, jumped onto Agent Coulson's airplane. Which reminds me: did you know he was alive? Because last time I checked, that guy was well and truly dead." I look pointedly at Coulson while I say this and catch him shaking his head viciously at me. Whoops, apparently Tasha didn't know.

_"No!"_ She exclaims into my ear and I wince. _"Since when is he not dead?!"_

"I don't know, since about half an hour ago. At least, that's when I realised he was alive."

_"Put him on the phone. Right now."_

"Uhhhh I don't think that's the best idea." I say slowly. "I don't think I was supposed to tell you that he's, you know, alive and walking."

Grant slaps his hand against his forehead and Coulson allows his head to fall forward onto his desk.

"Nope, I definitely wasn't supposed to tell you, judging by Grant's and Coulson's reactions." I state.

_"Cat."_ Tasha says warningly. _"Please put Coulson on the phone right this minute. Or I will personally come and get you off that plane, and see Coulson while I'm at it."_

"We're actually in a huge-ass airplane at the moment. Good luck getting up here and getting me off it." I say.

_"My dear protégée,"_ Tasha begins. _"You seem to forget who I am and the vast amount of vehicles I have at my disposal."_

"No, I didn't forget." I reply. "I was just hoping that you might."

_"Catalina Abigail Ward!"_ Tasha says, her voice rising in volume. _"Put Phil Coulson on the goddamn phone right now-"_  
"Okay, okay!" I exclaim before quickly tossing the phone to Coulson.

Grant looks at me, tilting his head to the side slightly. "How are we related?"

"It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that Coulson's life status is classified?!" I exclaim.

Skye pipes up from behind me, "This is S.H.I.E.L.D. Everything is classified."

"Touché." I agree with her.

"So anyways…" Skye says to me. "Who's on the phone?"

"Natasha." I answer simply.

"Natasha who?" Skye presses curiously. Grant opens his mouth to respond, but Skye cuts him off. "Oh wait, I guess that's classified too, because every-freaking-thing is classified, right?"

"Natasha Romanoff." I answer, ignoring Grant when he sighs and glares at me.

"Natasha Romanoff, as in Black Widow?" Skye asks for clarification.

I nod my head. "Yep, that's the one."

"Oh my god that is so freaking cool!" Skye exclaims. "Can I talk to her? Please, please, please!" She begs excitedly.

Ward looks at her, an incredulous look on his face. "How is it even possible for someone to get so many words out of their mouth that quickly?"

Skye smirks and winks at him suggestively, which makes Grant roll his eyes – again – and me laugh lightly.

"Wait," Skye turns back to me, "How do you know Black Widow?"

"She's my trainer and Supervising Officer. She's been working with me for what, almost five years now I think."

"That's fantastic! So, she's like what you are for me?" Skye asks, looking up at Grant who nods his head once. "Why do you get the world famous assassin turned super spy, and I get stuck with him?" Skye whines at me.

"Luck of the draw, I guess." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, apparently you're a hell of a lot luckier than I am." Skye states.

"Hey! I thought you liked me being your SO!" Grant says, looking slightly offended.

"I have never said that. Ever. Not once in my entire life have those words slipped from my lips." Skye says seriously.

"Fine then. But just so you know, Romanoff is a lot meaner than I am." Grant replies.

"Pfft." Skye huffs. "I doubt that. No one is meaner than you. You make me do 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups every single day! That is just nasty and unnecessary!"

Grant looks at me, eyebrow raised in a gesture for me to back him up and prove he isn't the hardest-training agent in S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Tasha makes me do 200 sit-ups and 100 push-ups every morning before we start training. And the days we do core strength, she makes me do even more. Trust me, Grant's a soft, cuddly teddy bear compared to Tasha, and Clint, and Steve." I say.

"Ok, who are Clint and Steve?" Skye questions.

"Clint Barton and Steve Rodgers. Hawkeye and Captain America." I explain.

"You've trained with Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America?!"

"Yes. I don't recommend it. Tasha brought both of them in to work with me for a day. It was horrible. The three of them spent the whole time yelling at me. They claimed that they were 'encouraging' me, but really they were just seeing who could yell at me louder. I was surprised that they could all still talk normally by the end of the day. I physically could not walk the next day. I couldn't even sit up in my bed, that's how sore I was. It was hell. Take it from someone who knows firsthand; superheroes aren't as cool as everyone thinks. Especially The Avengers. They're just horrible. Except for Bruce. Bruce is nice. And Tasha is nice sometimes." I tilt my head and amend my statement. "Tasha is nice when she gets me ice-cream and chocolate and takes me out to see a movie. The rest of the time she's just way too focused on being the best, and making me the best. Which is great because I know she just wants me to be the best I can be, but it also makes her the person I swear about when I go to bed each night."

Halfway through my spiel, Grant had left the office, and as I finish speaking he walks back in carrying two glasses of Scotch, one of which he places on the desk in front of Coulson – who is still trying to calm Tasha down somewhat – and cradles the other glass in his hands.

"You need to learn when to shut up." Grant says to me as he takes a sip of the drink.

"Yes, I do recall you saying that to me before. And Tasha, and Clint, and Steve, and Hill, and Thor, and Fury, and Reed-"

"Cat." Grant cuts me off. "You're doing it again."

"Sorry." I apologise, before continuing. "However… Pepper, and Stark, and Bruce, and Storm, and Ben, and Sue all think that my inability to stop talking is wonderfully hilarious."

"I'm not even gonna bother asking who they all are." Skye sighs, rubbing her temples.

"Good choice." Grant says to her. "If you try and get her to tell you every single superhero that she knows, you'll be needing a glass of this as well." He holds up his glass of Scotch as he says the last part.

"I hate you." I say to him.

"No you don't." Grant says to me in a baby voice. "You wuv your big bro. Who else is going to protect wittle Cat from the big, scary monsters hiding under the bed?"

I toss a pen from my pocket at his head, and it hits him smack bang between the eyes.

"YES!" I exclaim in triumph.

"Nice throw." Skye says, nodding her head in appreciation.

"Thank you, I thought so too." I smile at her.

Coulson clears his throat to get our attention and hands my phone back to me.

"She still there?" I ask him, and he nods in confirmation. I press the phone back to my ear. "So…"

_"Ok, now that we've cleared up the whole 'Agent Coulson is alive' thing, what did you call for?"_ Tasha says to me.

"Well…" I begin, and then have a better idea. "Hang on a sec." I quickly turn my phone onto loudspeaker. "Can you hear me?"

_"Loud and clear."_ Tasha says.

* * *

**Skye's POV**

My mouth drops open. That's Black Widow! I am on the phone to the freaking Black Widow! Well, I'm not on the phone to her, but I am in the room and she is on loud speaker, so…

"Alrighty… well you know how I do actually have to graduate within the two years and four months?" Catalina says to the phone.

_"Yes, I do."_ Natasha Romanoff answers.

"Well, you know how I'm currently with Grant and Coulson?"

_"Yes."_ Natasha says patiently.

"They're going on a mission. I don't know exactly what it is, because it's classified just like every other goddamn aspect of S.H.I.E.L.D.-"

_"Cat, focus."_ Natasha gently brings the young girl's thoughts back on track.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Catalina apologises.

'Natasha really knows how to keep Catalina focussed,' I think to myself. 'I mean, of course she can keep a teenager focussed. She's the freaking Black Widow. She could keep anyone focussed on whatever tangent she felt so inclined. Skye, stop thinking and listen to what they're saying!' I reprimand myself.

"…and they want to drop me off at the Academy when they fly over it tomorrow, but I was thinking that I could maybe use this is my big, fancy graduation mission?" I hear the end of Catalina's sentence.

_"Well, I don't see why not."_ Natasha says. _"I mean, you are well and truly good enough to graduate. You would have graduated already had it not been for Agent Ward having a stick up his ass and being way too overprotective."_

"Hey!" Ward exclaims indignantly and I laugh at him.

_"Oh, suck it up Ward; you know it's true."_ Natasha says to him. _"Anyway, I give it the go ahead. The fact that your brother will be there with you the whole time might actually give him a bit of peace of mind. If anything goes awry, he'll be there to save the day."_

I'm starting to think that Ward and Natasha Romanoff don't like each other that much. Either that, or they just have weird sort of love-hate relationship going on.

_"And,"_ Natasha continues, _"Agent Coulson will look after you. So long as he doesn't die halfway through the mission again."_

"Natasha, I-" Coulson begins but the woman on the other side of the phonecall cuts him off.

_"Shh! I don't want to talk about it! However, I have a feeling you will be going on this mission, Catalina."_

"Yes!" Catalina fist pumps the air excitedly and I grin, giving her a high-five.

_"However, you have to behave. As annoyed as I am with Coulson for pretending to be dead, and as much as I love you, I am severely breaking protocol by sending you with them. If you get me in trouble with Fury, I can promise that you won't be graduating before you're 20."_

"Yes sir!" Catalina says sharply, mock-saluting the phone.

_"She's saluting me right now, isn't she?"_ Natasha sighs.

"Yes." Coulson, Ward and I all say in unison.

_"Of course she is."_

I wonder if Natasha is rolling her eyes at Catalina…

"Stop rolling your eyes at me." Catalina says, seeming to read my mind.

"Well if you weren't being childish and saluting me I wouldn't have to roll my eyes." Natasha fires back.

"It's weird how you guys do that." Ward say, and I have to agree with him on that.

"It is kinda creepy." I say.

_"And who's this?" _Natasha asks, clearly directed at me.

"Oh, hi!" I say. Now I'm actually talking to Black Widow. "I'm Skye. I'm a… What am I, Ward?"

"You're a consultant." He supplies.

"Oh right, yeah. I'm the resident consultant and hacker for Coulson's team. And I have to say, I cannot believe I'm actually talking to Black Widow. I am a huge fan!"

"Skye." Ward places his hand on my shoulder to silence me. "Don't suffocate Agent Romanoff with compliments. She doesn't do compliments unless they come from a higher level agent. Which is really only Fury for her."

"Oh." I say, nodding my head at Ward before going back to talking to Natasha. "Sorry. I'm just not used to being in the world of superheroes and kickass secret agents. You're the first Avenger I've ever spoken to! Except for Tony Stark that time I tried to break into Stark Tower… which you don't need to know about." I say suddenly, clamping my mouth shut.

Catalina is doubled over, laughing almost hysterically at me. Ward has his eyes closed and I can almost hear his thoughts: 'Skye, shut up. You're embarrassing yourself.' Coulson is looking at me with wife, slightly horrified eyes.

_"Oh dear god. She's just like Cat, only worse."_ Natasha says. _"Ward, give me a call when you can't handle them anymore – preferably before you jump out of the plane – and Clint or I'll come and get you."_

"I'll probably actually have to take you up on that offer." Ward responds.

"Oh yeah guys, real funny." Catalina says at the same moment as I say: "Funny."

We look at each other, smirking. If she comes on this mission we could cause all amounts of hell, especially for Ward. She seems to be thinking the same thing, because her eyes quickly flip to her brother before she looks back at me and winks conspiratorially.

_"I was actually being serious."_ Natasha says.

"As was I." Ward states.

"Awww don't be like that, Ward. Your life would be so boring without us and you know it." I say.

"Perhaps." He agrees with me. "But I will not be able to retain my sanity if I have to babysit both of you."

"You won't need to babysit us, Grant." Catalina says. "We're big girls. Besides, by the end of this mission we will have taught you to have fun and you'll be partying with us."

Ok, I like this girl. She's just like me! Mwahahaha.

"Mission Teach Grant Ward To Have Fun!" I exclaim.

"I like that." Catalina nods in agreement. "The abbreviation would be MTGWTHF!"

"How are we even supposed to remember that?" I ask, laughing.

Catalina shrugs her shoulders. "Practice?"

_"Ok, Cat you are pathetic."_ Natasha says. _"Skye, don't encourage her or stoop to her level, please. Coulson, Ward… well, I wish you two good luck. You'll need it, by the sounds of it."_

"Tasha, I think we need to teach you how to have fun, too." Catalina says.

_"I know how to have fun."_

"I'll believe that when I see it." Catalina grumbles under breath, too quietly for Natasha to hear over the phone.

_"Anyway, when you fly over the Academy tomorrow, land so Cat can come in and get some clothes."_

"Will do." Coulson says.

_"Ok, well I'll see you all tomorrow then, I guess."_ Natasha says.

"Yep, you definitely will! Bye Tasha, love you!"

_"Love you too, Cat."_ Natasha laughs before the line goes dead.

"Huh." I say in shock. The other three people in the room all turn to me. "We just talked to Black Widow."

Coulson, Ward, and Catalina all roll their eyes at me.

Catalina may seem to be the complete opposite of Grant, but I can already see a few similarities that they share. Namely, the way the roll their chocolate brown eyes when someone (me) says something that they deem to be stupid.

* * *

**There you go! By the way, Storm is Johnny Storm aka Human Torch, Reed is Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic, Sue is Sue Storm aka Invisible Girl and Ben is Ben Grimm aka The Thing from ****_The Fantastic Four_****.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it! If anyone has any requests for pranks that Skye and Cat could pull (can involve any of the other characters, too), drop a review or PM me :)**


	3. Familial Bonding

**Ok, so this is just a lot of cute fluffy stuff, really. Oh, and Toby is Ward's younger brother by the way, so you don't get confused in this chapter!**

**Oh, and Catalina looks like Stefanie Scott.**

**_Disclaimer:_**** I don't own AoS**

* * *

**Third person POV**

Ward watches with interest as Skye and Catalina sit on the floor of the loungeroom, getting to know each other. They're playing some sort of game where they both have to say a word that means something to them for each letter of the alphabet. He's compared Skye and Catalina in his head before (how they are both bright and bubbly and too energetic and can make him smile), but he never believed he'd actually be able to watch them interact and compare their similarities when they are sitting right in front of him.

"You're not watching the movie, G." Catalina says without even looking up at him.

When Grant had walked into the room and found his rookie and sister talking and laughing, he had put Pirates Of The Caribbean on as a cover so he could stay in the room and watch the pair of younger women without them suspecting anything. Of course, he should have known better. Cat always catches him out.

Skye looks up at him, smiling. "You wanna play, G-Man?"

Ward shakes his head no to Skye and lifts his eyes back up to the TV screen, watching as Elizabeth Swann sees the cursed pirates for the first time. After about five minutes, his eyes slide back down to Skye and Cat, sitting on the floor. Skye is laughing happily while Cat animatedly tells some intricate story – probably something embarrassing about him, Grant thinks as Skye looks up at him and begins laughing even harder.

"So that's the story of how Grant broke his tailbone." He hears Catalina finish.

"You didn't!" Grant exclaims, looking horrified as he realises why Skye is laughing so hard.

Cat grins at him sheepishly. "Well, she asked me to tell her something about you that she wouldn't be able to find out from hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. database."

Grant sighs as he looks at Skye, who is still laughing uncontrollably as tears roll down her cheeks.

"It's really not that funny." Grant huffs at her.

Skye wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she looks up at Grant. "Yes it is. You… you drove a motorbike… up a fence." Skye manages to get out breathlessly.

"Ok, it wasn't my fault! They didn't tell me that the engine was that powerful. I thought it was just a puny little dirt bike." Grant attempts to defend himself.

"Ok, ok." Skye says. "But what… dimwit tries to ride a motorbike… when it's facing straight at a… fence? That's just plain… stupid!"

"Yes Skye, thank you. I certainly learnt from my mistakes. Namely, never trust Johnny Storm and Toby when they asm me to see how quickly I can ride around the backyard."

"Oh Ward." Skye chuckles. "You are an idiot. A complete and utter idiot."

"Well thank you for your sympathy." Ward says sarcastically.

"You are most welcome." Skye jokes.

Ward rolls his eyes at her and looks back to the TV.

"Hey Grant, what's the time?" Cat asks him.

He looks down at his watch. "6.07pm." He answers, knowing she hates it when people use 24 hour time.

"And when are we having dinner?" Cat asks curiously.

Ward shakes his head, laughing at the youngest person on the Bus. "Always thinking with your stomach."

"Always." She agrees, grinning at him.

"Um, I don't think anyone was cooking tonight." Skye answers. "So we're probably just having toast or something."

"You guys are so boring!" Cat whines.

Skye laughs at her. "Yep, we're all lazy shits."

Cat jumps up, reaching her hands down to pull Skye to her feet. "We'll cook dinner!"

"I can bake, and I can make desserts." Skye says. "But main meals are something I cannot do without burning at least one thing and catching something else on fire."

"Well then. We'll just do something easy." Cat says.

There's no way Skye's getting out of cooking now.

"Come on Grant. You're helping, too." Cat says, stepping in front of Grant so he can no longer see the television. Not that he was watching the movie, which Cat knows.

"Last time I tried to cook with you, bolognaise sauce ended up all over the kitchen, my hair was on fire, and I had a very burnt hand. There is no way I'm helping you guys."

"Ok, first of all, it was not my fault that the lid exploded off of the sauce. Secondly, I still don't quite know how your hair ended up on fire, but I will admit that it was probably partly my fault. And lastly, you're the idiot who tried to lift the pot off the oven without using the glove things." Catalina states.

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, honey." Grant says to her.

"Fine then!" Cat huffs out. "Don't help us!"

Skye laughs silently as she leads Catalina to the kitchen.

After a moment, Grant gets up off the couch and follows them. He walks into the kitchen and sits down on one of the barstools to watch them.

"So what are we cooking?" Skye questions.

"I don't know!" Catalina exclaims. "I haven't even had a chance to look at what's in the cupboards yet!"

Skye laughs and leans back against the bench, pointedly waiting for Catalina to open the cupboards and look in them. Catalina quirks an eyebrow at Skye and Skye gestures for her to open the cupboards. Cat rolls her eyes and swings the cupboard doors open. Her eyes scan the contents of the cupboards and she tosses a bag of rice over her shoulder to Skye before she heads over to the fridge and opens that, too.

"Okay." Catalina says, turning to look at Skye and Ward. "We're going to make fried rice and chicken stirfry."

"Mmmm I don't think I'll be able to do that without burning anything…" Skye says slowly. "Maybe you should just do it yourself."

"Oh no you don't." Catalina levels her with a gaze. "You are not skipping out on this."

"I totally could." Skye challenges. "You can't force me to do it."

Cat narrows her eyes at her. "Try me."

Skye looks back at Catalina calmly, but the younger girl's gaze doesn't waver. Suddenly, Skye turns her head to look at Ward. "She's just like you! She's a robot!"

"I'm a fun robot, though." Catalina says.

"You're stupid." Ward pipes up and Catalina tosses an orange at his head as she reaches into the fridge, pulling some chicken breasts out.

"You're a jerk." She retaliates.

Skye chuckles at the two as they half-jokingly argue with one another.

"Can you start chopping things to go in the fried rice?" Catalina asks Skye.

"Yeah sure." Skye says, walking over to Catalina who passes her an onion, capsicum, garlic, broccoli, carrot, and a handful of green beans.

"Grant, make yourself useful and beat these eggs for me." Catalina hands him four eggs, which he grudgingly takes and cracks them into a glass bowl.

Skye rolls up the sleeves of her plaid shirt and Catalina catches a glimpse of the metal bracelet around her wrist. Cat's eyes widen almost imperceptibly in surprise. Her reaction goes unnoticed by Skye, but Grant catches her eye and gives a small shake of his head, silently telling her not to bring it up now. Cat simply goes back to pulling the chicken breast out of the fridge. She's curious about what caused Skye to need to wear the monitor, but she knows now isn't the time to ask.

"So," Skye begins speaking, "Am I just chopping everything up?"

"Yup." Catalina says. She turns to her brother. "Grant, can you please put the rice in a pot of water to cook?"

Grant remains indignantly unmoving on his stool for a minute, before the unwavering gazes of both Skye and Catalina unnerve him so that he stands up and grabs a pot, filling it with water and pouring the rice in.

"Good boy." Cat smirks.

They work in silence for a while – Grant alternately watching the rice and the girls, Skye chopping the vegetable for the fried rice and stirfry, and Catalina cutting the chicken and mixing the sauce for the stirfry – before Cat and Skye begin chatting about random things ranging for their favourite movies and songs to what they think the weather will be like tomorrow to who their favourite superhero (comic book or real) is.

"Hey Ward!" Skye jumps directly in front of him, waving a knife around dangerously. "Who's your favourite superhero?"

"Skye. Please don't point the knife at my face like that." Grant says and Skye grins at him sheepishly, slowly lowering the knife to her side.

"So, who's your favourite?" Skye presses.

"Batman or Green Arrow." He answers.

"Ah, so we have a DC fan." Skye grins at him. "Ok, why are they your favourites?"

"Because they're just normal people who had tough lives and wanted to make a difference."

"Wow." Skye says slowly. "That's deep. Especially for a robot."

Ward rolls his eyes at her and ushers her back towards the vegetables she's supposed to be chopping. He watches her dance back over to her chopping board, the knife waving dangerously around her head again. 'I wonder what we'd write on the injury form if she beheads herself.' Grant thinks to himself.

"You're going to chop your head off if you keep up like that." Catalina says to Skye, seeming to read his thoughts. "Or worse, you'll chop my head off."

"Because that would be such a tragedy." Ward jokes.

Skye and Catalina both throw items at his head. Skye tosses a clove of garlic his way, while Catalina throws a sauce bottle at him.

"Hey! Don't gang up on me!" Ward exclaims.

"Don't be a prick and we won't have to." Cat retorts.

"Yup, what she said." Skye agrees with Catalina.

Ward surprises all three of them by poking his tongue out at the girls.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Skye practically screams in joy at Ward's drop of maturity.

"I- something to never be spoken of again." Ward states.

Catalina scoffs at him. "Yeah right. You know that this will spread through S.H.I.E.L.D. like wildfire."

"Which is why neither of you are going to mention it to anyone." Ward says.

"Why do not have windows in this place?!" Skye exclaims suddenly, running over to the sink and washing her hands.

"Because we can't breath the air up this high." Ward says as if she's stupid to ask such a question.

"I know but… I need fresh air!" Skye says, splashing water into her eyes.

"Skye, what are you doing?" Ward asks, moving towards her.

"Nothing!" Skye says quickly, turning away from Ward.

Catalina runs over and steps in front of Skye to see her with red, watering eyes. "Awww feeling a bit emotional are we?" She laughs at the older woman.

Skye swats at her arm, and Ward marvels at how comfortable they are with each other considering they've only known each other for a few hours.

"I hate onions." Skye grumbles as way of explanation, motioning towards the partly chopped onion on her board.

Ward tries to stifle his chuckle, but it doesn't work. Skye glares at him over her shoulder, which only causes his amusement to build and the laughter bursts from him.

"It's not funny!" Skye exclaims.

"Do you want me to finish the onion for you?" Catalina offers.

Skye smiles at her. "If you don't mind."

"This is pathetic. You can't even cut an onion without crying." Ward says to Skye as Catalina moves towards the onion.

"Be nice." Catalina says over her shoulder to him.

"Yes Mum." Ward quips.

"Don't push it, Bubby." Catalina says to Grant and he blushes a deep red as he glares daggers at her back.

Skye bursts into fits of laughter. "What?!"

"I used to call him Bubby when I was little because I could never say 'Grant' properly, so I gave him a new name. He absolutely hated it. Still does. And I still call him that because his reaction is priceless." Catalina says as she chops the onion, leaning away from the vegetable slightly as her own eyes start to sting and water.

"This day has been wonderful for gathering embarrassing, black-mail worthy material on my lovely S.O." Skye grins evilly.

"Skye, you were right." Catalina says, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve and blinking rapidly in an attempt to ease the stinging.

"Oh, let me do it." Grant walks over to her and takes the knife from an all too willing Catalina, who immediately runs over to Skye and leans over the sink, washing her hands and splashing water into her eyes.

"Ow!" Catalina says, still trying to ease the pain in her eyes. "I think there's something wrong with that onion! It should not hurt that much! Usually I'm fine with onions, but that's something else."

"I know, right." Skye says. "And you both thought I was just being a sook."

The girls hear a noise come from Grant and look at each other, smirking, before silently creeping over to him. They peer around his sides and look up his face to see red-rimmed eyes and tears running down his cheeks.

Both girls start laughing and Skye takes over from Grant, allowing him to go and wash his eyes. Luckily, the onion is now almost finished, so just as Skye's eyes start stinging, she pushes it to the side and starts with the next vegetable.

When they finish preparing dinner, the trio lean against the bench, looking at each other.

"I cannot believe it took all three of us to cut the onion." Skye says finally, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"We really are pathetic." Catalina says and Grant nods in agreement.

* * *

**Haha there you go. That whole onion thing actually happened with me and two of my friends in cooking class! It was pretty sad.**

**Feel free to review!**


	4. Understanding

**Ok, here we go. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with this chapter, but... oh well. Let me know what you think!**

**Oh, also Brandon is Ward and Cat's eldest brother, and Toby is younger than Grant but older than Cat!**

**_Disclaimer:_**** I don't own anything or anyone except for Catalina.**

* * *

**Third Person POV**

"So…" Catalina begins as everyone – bar May who is in the cockpit – sits in the loungeroom eating popcorn as they watch The Hunger Games. "Where am I sleeping?"

"Well, because your arrival was so unexpected we didn't have a chance to prepare one of the spare bunks. We'll be able to do that for you tomorrow." Coulson says.

"Okie dokie." Cat reaches into the bowl of popcorn on her brother's lap, popping some into her mouth before she looks up again. "But where am I sleeping tonight?"

"You can have my bed." Grant says from his seat beside her. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"Are you sure?" Cat looks up at her brother.

"Would I have offered if I wasn't?" Ward replies bluntly.

"You know," Skye starts, "You could sleep in my room. We could grab a blowup mattress for you. It might not be as comfortable as your brother's bed, but it'll stop you from feeling like you kicked him out of his own room. And it'll let us get to know each other. Oh, also you'll probably want something to sleep in other than those clothes. My stuff would probably fit you better than his."

"Ok, a) have you not noticed how much taller she is than you, Skye?" Ward questions, looking at the small brunette. "Your clothes probably wouldn't fit her at all. And b) you've spent the whole afternoon getting to know each other."

Skye shrugs. "Yes I'm short, but we're really the same size everywhere else…"

"You have bigger boobs than me." Catalina pipes up. "I have no boobs, courtesy of mother dearest."

"Actually Catalina, you do have breasts." Simmons states. "They just happen to be slightly smaller than Skye's. And mine, actually." Simmons adds, looking down at her own chest briefly.

"How did this conversation go from being about where Catalina is sleeping to breast sizes?" Fitz wonders, voicing the thoughts of himself, Coulson and Ward.

"We're women." Skye says. "We can do anything."

"Never question our ability to combine seemingly unrelated topics into one conversation." Simmons adds.

Catalina nods her head emphatically, agreeing with both women.

"Can we please go back to the conversation of sleeping arrangements?" Ward asks.

"Yeah sure. Anyway, what were we saying before we started talking about our boobs?" Cat wonders.

"Um… Ward had basically called me a midget and said that we spent the whole afternoon together." Skye recalls, before whipping her head around to face Grant as she responds to his last statement before they all went off on a tangent. "And you can never know someone too well."

"I think it's a great idea." Cat pipes up.

"Of course you do." Grant sighs.

"I think it's quite a good idea, too." Coulson states. "If Catalina is joining the team for this mission she will need to get to know all of us. Except for you, Ward, for obvious reasons."

Skye grins at Catalina. "Ok, well Ward and I will go and find a mattress. We'll be back."

With that, Skye stands and tries to pull Ward off the couch, to no avail.

"Grant Ward, I swear to god…" Skye groans as she tries to haul him up. "If you don't move your fat lazy ass I will… I will… I'll put that video of you singing in the shower up on YouTube!"

Grant quirks an eyebrow at her, not buying her threat and not even looking like he'll be moving any time soon. Skye looks at him, accepting his silent challenge. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. She taps the screen a few times, opening what she wants. Soon enough, the sound of Agent Grant Ward singing We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift echoes around the room.

Ward jumps up and lunges at Skye, reaching for her phone. She dances out of his way and begins singing along loudly with the recording. FitzSimmons burst into giggles and Coulson smiles hugely. Catalina smirks and joins in singing with Skye.

Ward spins around and glares at his sister when he hears her singing. "Don't encourage her!"

Ward finally manages to snatch the phone out of Skye's hand and deletes the recording.

"Oh, that's not my only copy." Skye says nonchalantly.

Ward glares at her, but she grabs his wrist and pulls him away, heading to the storage area.

"So…" Cat begins when the pair are out of earshot. "What's going on with them?"

"How do you mean?" Coulson wonders.

"I mean have they had sex yet? Because if they haven't, they need to. Desperately. The sexual tension is coming off them in waves. It can't be good for anyone to be exposed to that amount of sexual frustration."

"Uh, to my knowledge they have not had sexual intercourse." Simmons answers. "But I agree; they need to."

"Ok, so they haven't slept together. So what's going on with them?"

"Well Skye's flirting method isn't exactly subtle," Fitz begins, "So it's obvious that she likes him. Agent Ward is a bit harder to read…"

"Oh, he likes her too. Trust me." Cat interjects.

"How do you know that?" Coulson wonders, even though he has the feeling that Ward does indeed harbour unidentified feelings for the young hacker.

"We may have discussed it earlier." She says slowly.

"He actually told you that he likes her?!" Simmons exclaims.

"Not in so many words. Actually, in no words at all. He neither confirmed nor denied it, which is his way of saying 'she's gorgeous and I want her to be mine'."

Simmons giggles at that comment.

"Oh, and he was really attentive to her when we were cooking dinner." Catalina adds.

"He's her S.O. He's supposed to be attentive." Coulson points out.

"No, this was not S.O. attentiveness. I know S.O. attentiveness. Tasha's my S.O. and she never lets me out of her sight. But the way he was watching her, it was like, 'you're an idiot and I'm worried you're going to catch something on fire, but I love you anyway'. If Tasha looked at me the way Grant was looking at Skye, I would feel slightly uncomfortable."

"So, if Agent Ward likes Skye, why doesn't he do something about it?" Fitz questions.

"He's scared." Catalina whispers. "The last woman he loved was killed. Saving me." Her eyes slide closed as she begins to understand why he didn't want her to be a part of this mission; this team. He's scared that Skye would give up her life to save Catalina, just like Talia did.

"Who was the last woman he loved?" Simmons asks quietly.

"Agent Talia Reynolds." Coulson explains. "Killed in action on November 4, 2008."

"She was his partner. They trained under the same S.O. at the Academy, so when they graduated it was obvious for them to be partnered together. When he died he decided he wanted to work alone and went into Espionage. That's why he had a porcupine for people skills."

"How do you know that?" Simmons questions.

"All junior agents learn how to hack. I'm probably not as good as Skye, but I know enough to hack into most databases and to turn off security systems. It's basic knowledge, but it gets the job done. If Grant had paid attention to anything other than physical combat training at the Academy, he would know how to hack, too. But he didn't, so he doesn't."

* * *

**Cat's POV**

"He doesn't what?" Grant's voice asks and I turn my head to see him carrying a deflated blow up mattress down to where I assume Skye's room is.

"Know how to hack." I say matter of factly. "Because all you ever cared about was kicking people's asses."

"That's still all he cares about." Skye says, following behind Grant and carrying a small pump, which I assume is to blow up the mattress. "Why would he know how to hack, anyway?"

"She knows how to hack! She hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D. and discovered that Agent Ward got a porcupine for people skills!" Jemma exclaims.

"Thanks, Jemma." I say sarcastically. "Just dump me in it, why don't you?"

"You hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Skye looks at me incredulously.

"NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PORCUPINE!" Grant yells at me.

"I thought it was a poop with daggers." Coulson pipes up.

Everyone turns to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"What? Agent Hill isn't a very good artist." He defends himself.

"How is it even possible to think that a porcupine was a poop with knives in it?" I wonder.

Skye shrugs her shoulders at me and pushes Ward further down the hallway and out of our sight.

"Not a word of what I just said is to be mentioned ever again." I warn. "But keep your eyes peeled, because if there's really nothing going on with them, there will be soon."

* * *

**Cat's POV**

I lie down on the small sliver of ground beside my mattress and begin doing sit-ups.

"What are you doing?" Skye asks, peeking at me over the edge of her bed.

"Ah, sit-ups." I state. "What else does it look like?"

She shrugs her shoulders and watches me. After a few minutes of me doing my sit-ups in silence, Skye speaks again. "You know, it must be something about the name, because both you and Ward take training way too seriously. You should not be doing that at this hour of the night."

I look at my watch and my mouth falls open in surprise as I see that it's 1.47am. "We so should have not watched that last movie." I state. "Grant'll kill us both."

"Hey," Skye holds up her hands in surrender. "It was your idea to watch The Woman In Black. I would have been happy to have just finished our movie night with The Lion King, but no. You had to make me sit through a freaking horror movie right before we went to bed. If we had've finished at The Lion King, we could have been in bed two hours ago."

I laugh as I count the sit-ups in my head; _29, 30, 31._ "Well I'm sorry for being adventurous and not thinking my decision through before I voiced it."

Skye sighs exaggeratedly. "_Fine_. I guess I can forgive you this time."

"Good good." I chuckle. _36, 37, 38, 39._

"So, why are you and Ward so… dedicated to training?" Skye questions.

I sigh and stop my sit-ups, propping myself up on one elbow to look at her. "It's just… being an agent is just a job to us. This is our life. Our mum was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. That's how she met our dad; she was sent on a mission to keep him safe. All four of us – Brandon, Grant, Toby and I – went to S.H.I.E.L.D. summer camps when we were little. When Brandon started hitting Grant and Toby… Grant went to the Academy more and more. He'd go after school, on weekends, on holidays. He just wanted to be able to protect Toby…"

"What about you?" She wonders.

I smile bitterly. "Being the only girl has it's perks. He rarely hit me."

"But he still did." Skye catches on.

I nod my head. "Sometimes. A lot less than he hit the boys, but he still did. Please don't tell Grant." I beg.

"He doesn't know?!" She exclaims, her eyes popping open.

I shake my head silently. "He never did it when Grant or Toby were around. Just like he never hit either of them when Mum or Dad were there."

"It must have been horrible." Skye whispers.

I shrug my shoulders. "We got used to it. Anyway, that's why Grant started going to the Academy. Eventually, when he was about 14, he started boarding there and came home to visit most afternoons and weekends. Our dad was killed when I was 8. Mum kind of lost it after that and didn't want any of us to have anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Brandon had already kind of moved away from that lifestyle on his own. Toby did what Mum wanted."

"But you didn't, clearly."

"Clearly." I agree. "I wanted to be just like Grant. I wanted to be able to save people. So, I snuck to the Academy after school and on weekends. I used to just hide in the trees or in the shadows and watch what the others were doing and try to teach myself. After about three weeks of being very sneaky for an eight year old kid, Tasha caught me sneaking out under the fence late one night. She was there dropping off a few kids after their Grad. Mission. She knew who I was; who my mum was. After that she'd pick me up from school every afternoon and brought me to the Academy or somewhere else where she could teach me the basics of every aspect needed to survive in S.H.I.E.L.D.. When I was 11 I started boarding and officially became a Junior Agent and Tasha officially became my S.O. And here we are. Training has been both Grant's and my lives for practically our whole life. It's how we grew up. That's why we're so dedicated to training. Really, it's all we know."

Skye lies back down on her bed and I finish my 50 sit-ups before climbing onto my mattress.

"Good night, Skye." I say.

Skye smiles at me over the side of her bed before she flips off the light beside her bed. I look up at the plastic glow in the dark stars on Skye's bedroom roof and smile. I've always loved stars.

"Night Lina." I hear Skye mumble almost inaudibly and smile.

"You know, I'm going to have to come up with a nickname for you." I say.

I can hear the smile in Skye's answer. "I wouldn't have expected anything less."

* * *

**Ta da! Hope you liked it! So excited to see the new episode!**


	5. Let's Do It Tonight

**Geeze, it's been yonkers since I last updated! I'm so sorry! I am not coping without my weekly AoS episodes! It's quite sad. Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas... and Happy New Year!**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter is ok. Let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own AoS or Pitch Perfect.**

* * *

**Skye's POV**

I slowly wake up, burying my face into my pillow in a half-hearted attempt to fall into the dark oblivion of sleep for a few more hours. After a few minutes of attempting – in vain – to fall back asleep, I open my eyes a crack and look at the clock beside my bed. It reads 8.03am. I groan and pull the covers up over my head. Then the reality of the time sinks into my brain and my eyes snap open.

"SHIT!" I exclaim as I scramble out of bed. I was supposed to start training with Ward at 6am!

I bound across to my door, but lose my balance and fall over when one of my feet sinks. I look at the blow-up mattress below me, which both caused and broke my fall. My mind flashes back to all of yesterdays events: Catalina jumping onto the plane, her call to Natasha Romanoff, our teary attempt at cooking dinner for everyone, our movie night which lasted until almost 2am, and our conversation while she was doing her situps.

Where could she be now?

I climb off the blowup mattress and open the door of my bunk, quietly padding down towards the female bathroom to see if Lina is having a shower. She isn't there, so I make my way to the kitchen and find FitzSimmons munching away on a bowl of cereal sitting between them on the counter.

"Mornin'!" Fitz says around a mouthful of cereal.

"Good morning." I respond, smiling at the scientists. "Have either of you seen Catalina this morning?"

Fitz shakes his head.

"No, I haven't." Simmons says. "Is she not sharing your room?"

"Yeah, but I only just woke up and she's not there."

"Is she in the bathroom?" Simmons questions.

"I just checked there, and that's a big fat nope."

"Oh. Well in that case-"

Simmons is cut off by a loud 'thump' coming from downstairs.

"Gym!" Simmons, Fitz and I all say together.

I quickly walk towards the staircase which leads to the cargo bay, FitzSimmons lab, and the gym and shooting range. I stop on the top step and look down at Catalina and Ward training together on the mats. Ward is lying on his back, Catalina kneeling on his chest and pinning hiss arms by his sides. Lina jumps up and reaches a hand down to help her brother up and _oh my god did she actually put him on the ground?!_

Ward gets back to his and he and his sister circle each other. Catalina lunges at Ward, aiming a punch at his ribs, but Ward manages to spin her around and pin her back against his chest, one arm securely around her throat, the other around her waist. I watch as Catalina throws her right elbow back, driving it into his stomach. From my viewpoint, it doesn't even look like Ward loosens his hold on her, but suddenly she is able to wriggle out of his hold and spins around to face him, taking up a fighting stance.

In the back of my mind, I vaguely wonder where Lina got the black bike shorts and electric blue sport crop-top that she is wearing. That thought is quickly replaced by the fact that Ward is only wearing a pair of grey trackpants. I look at the sweat that sparkles on his chest and let out a huff of air. He never trains shirtless with me!

I watch the siblings train for another ten minutes or so, now seriously wishing I had woken up at 6 to train with them, until Lina grabs a water bottle and drinks out of it.

"I'm going to do some shooting practice. Leo and Jemma set up moving targets, didn't they?" She questions.

Ward nods his head. "Yeah, they did."

"Ok, cool. You wanna come with me?"

"Not just yet. I'll have a go on the treadmill and then I'll come in and we can have a little shooting competition."

"You're on!" Catalina exclaims, welcoming the challenge.

Lina wipes her face, chest, and shoulders with one of the towels before she walks away from Ward, heading over to the soundproof shooting range. She picks up a small gun off the rack and enters the range, closing the door behind her.

I watch as Ward walks over to the treadmill and starts the machine.

"You know, Skye, if you want to train you should probably get changed out of your pyjamas."

I jump in surprise as his voice breaks into my thoughts about how nice his naked back looks. "Oh um… yeah. Sorry I slept in. My alarm didn't go off."

"Actually, it did." Ward says, still not looking up at me as he runs. "You slept through it. I would have come in and woken you up if Cat wasn't already down here."

"Oh, whoops! I was wondering, where'd she get her training clothes?"

"They're spares from storage. She found them herself. She was already down here working with the punching bag when I came down. She told me you'd had a late night and you were still asleep."

"Ah, I see. Oh, and do you know that your sister is a complete nutcase?"

"Why, what happened?" Ward asks, stopping the treadmill and turning to look up at me. "Did you get a bit scared watching the movie?"

"No… well yes, but that's not the point. The point is that she made us watch a horror movie in the middle of the night! Who even does that unless it's like, Halloween or something?!"

"She's an adrenaline junkie." He states simply, as if that explains everything.

"Ok, I'm just going to pretend that that answered my question, but just so you know: it didn't." I respond.

I walk down the stairs and over to the treadmill, stopping in front of it and leaning forward so my arms are resting on the front of the machine. "She's a good kid." I say after a moment, tipping my head in the direction of the firing range where Catalina is.  
Ward smiles softly – something I've never seen him do before – and it's beautiful. "Yeah, she is."

"She pretty badass, too." I chuckle. "I mean, an 8 year old kid breaking into a S.H.I.E.L.D. academy? That's gotta take some balls."

"Oh yeah. And you should have seen the lecture Romanoff gave me when she caught her."

"You seem to have a good family." I say thoughtfully. "Aside from big bro, I mean."

"Yes, I do. Toby and Cat are fantastic. They are so like each other, the pair of them. I'd do anything for them."

"I wish I had some siblings."

Ward looks up at me, that soft smile still on his face. "You do. You have Fitz and Simmons and Cat. Coulson is your dad, May is your mum. We're your family."

I smile at him. "I know. And thank you."

"For what?"

I hold up my right wrist, showing him the silver bracelet. "For forgiving me. I know that I hurt you and I broke your trust, and I really didn't deserve your forgiveness, but you gave it to me anyway. So thank you."

He shrugs his shoulders, brushing off my thanks as he steps off the treadmill and wipes his neck. "That's what partners do."

"So we're partners now?" I ask excitedly.

He smiles at me, really smiles, not just one of those gorgeous little half smiles, but a real, full-blown, light up the room smile. "We've always been partners. I've kept you safe, you've kept me safe. Don't you think that makes us partners?"

I smile and throw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. After a brief moment of hesitation, Ward wraps his arms around my waist, holding me in return.

"I've never had a partner before." I confess. "No one's ever cared about me or trusted me enough for that. With Rising Tide I always worked by myself. I've never even really had a boyfriend, just a few… flings."

"What about Miles?" He wonders.

"Miles was my best friend, my mentor. But he was never really my boyfriend, more like 'friend with benefits'."

"You deserve so much more than that, Skye." He whispers. "You deserve to be happy."

"I am happy now. Being a part of this team makes me happy. Being with you makes me happy, Grant." I pull back from him quickly when I realise that I called him by his first name instead of the silently agreed 'Ward'. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that, I know I'm supposed to call you 'Ward' like everyone else…" I try to backpedal.

He stares at me, looking slightly stunned. "No, that's ok." He finally manages to assure me. "You're my partner and you can call me whatever you want."

I smile up at him cautiously, and see his dark eyes twinkling down at me.

* * *

**Cat's POV**

I grin happily and poke the tip of my tongue between my teeth like I always do when one of my plans works exactly how I wanted it to.

"Aspect one, play matchmaker, is now in progress." I grin as I peer through the tiny open crack of the door, watching Skye and my brother.

* * *

**Third person POV**

Two hours later, Grant walks into the loungeroom to see Simmons, Skye, and Catalina sitting on the couch as they watch some movie on the TV. Suddenly, they all jump up and stand in a line, as Cat begins singing along with the red-headed woman. They all begin doing the same moves as the women on the screen.

_"Seems like everybody's got a price,_

_I wonder how they sleep at night_

_When the sale comes first and the truth comes second_

_Just stop for a minute and smile_

_Everybody look to the left_

_Everybody look to the right_

_Can you feel that, yeah_

_We're paying with love tonight…"_

Grant's mouth drops open as Simmons, of all people, raps,

_"It ain't about the money!"_

"Oh my god…" He whispers and leans against the doorframe, watching the three girls sing and dance in perfect harmony and synchronization with the group of girls on the TV screen. He chokes on air as he watches the slightly provocative dance moves that they do. Skye, yes he has no trouble seeing her do those sorts of moves, because well, it is Skye. And as Cat said when she first got on the plane, Skye can occasionally look a bit slutty. He makes sure to avert his eyes from Cat, because there is no way in hell he is going to watch his little sister do that. And Simmons… he didn't even know Simmons could look sexy, yet here she is in a pair of skinny jeans and one of her blouses dancing like that. His eyes are drawn back to Skye as she takes the lead singing and dancing.

_"Hey, hey, hey, hey_

_Won't you come see about me_

_I'll be alone dancing, you know it baby_

_Tell me your troubles and doubts_

_Giving me everything inside and out_

_Don't you forget about me_

_As you walk on by will you call my name?_

_As you walk on by will you call my name?_

_As you walk on by will you call my name?_

_I say la, la la la la, la la la la, la la la la la la la"_

"Hey, what're you doin'?" Fitz's voice comes from behind Grant, startling him as he was so engrossed in watching Skye dance and sing and that fistpump…

"Shhhh!" Ward hisses at Fitz, before ushering him forward to watch, too.

"What?" Fitz wonders as he steps forward.

"Just watch." Ward mumbles as he focuses his attention back on Skye, Jemma and Catalina, as Cat sings the lead.

_"Forget what they say_

_All my cares they play_

_I want you tonight_

_Grab somebody sexy tell them"_

"What the hell?!" Fitz squeaks as Skye and Jemma begin singing with Skye and the dance moves go from M rated to MA in two seconds flat.

_"Hey, give me everything tonight_

_Give me everything tonight"_

Jemma begins rapping again, and Ward glances at Fitz out of the corner of his eyes, and sees the scientist almost hyperventilating.

_"Take advantage tonight_

_'Cause tomorrow I'm off to do battle_

_Before my princess_

_But tonight I can make you my queen_

_And make love to you…"_

"Bloody hell!" Fitz exclaims quietly. "When'd she learn to do that?!"

"Beats me." Ward responds, fixated completely on the scene unfolding in front of them.

They watch in silently in shock and awe, as Jemma continues to wrap, until Fitz begins spluttering loudly at the last few lines of the rap.

_"Put it on my lap, baby_

_I'll make you feel right, baby_

_Can't promise tomorrow_

_But I promise tonight, darling"_

All three girls look up and see Fitz and Ward, but the only one who stops singing and dancing is Simmons; Skye and Cat keep going with the music, Catalina now singing the lead and Skye singing quietly behind her.

_"Excuse me, but I might drink a little more than I should tonight_

_And I might take you home with me if I could tonight…_

_'Cause baby I want you make to make me feel so good tonight"_

Skye raises her voice then to sing over the top of Cat.

_"Don't you forget about me"_

"Just, don't judge us and please don't hold this against us, okay." Ward hears Simmons pleading with Fitz. "We just need to have a bit of fun and Pitch Perfect is the best way to have fun! Just… stay here and keep quiet!"

And with that she runs back to join the other two girls.

_"'Cause we might not get tomorrow, tonight!_

_Ni, ni, ni, ni, ni ni ni ni ni ah!"_

Fitz and Ward's jaws almost hit the floor as the trio push their breasts up at the same time as the group of girls on the TV.

"I'm never going to be able to look and Skye or Simmons the same way again." Ward mutters to Fitz.

"I'm never going to be able to look at _any_ of them the same way again." Fitz says.

_"Hands u-u-u-up_

_I put my hands u-u-u-up!_

_Yeah, don't you forget about me_

_Party in the USA_

_Tonight I will love, love, love you tonight_

_Give me everything tonight_

_For all we know we might not get tomorrow_

_Let's do it tonight!"_

The three of them all hug and high-five each other happily.

"Cat…" Ward says, attempting to put on a growly voice, but failing miserably considering he is still trying to reign in some other emotions directed at Skye. "Was this your idea?"

"I said, _"Let's watch a movie"_ and Skye said, _"Ok, I have an illegally downloaded copy of Pitch Perfect on my USB, let's watch that."_ So we did." Cat explains.

"Okay Skye, come on. You need to do some training, I think. Burn off some of that spare energy which you always seem to have." Ward says.

Skye saunters away from Catalina and Simmons, heading in the direction of the gym. As she passes Ward, she whispers in his ear, "You know, I could think of other, much more fun ways, to burn off my spare energy. Well, I could if I weren't such a proper Southern gal, anyway." She says, the last bit laced in heavy Southern drawl.

Ward swallows heavily and turns, following Skye away.

"Hey Grant!" Cat calls out from behind him, and he stops walking to look at her. "We'll have you dancing and singing along with the Treblemakers next time!"

"Yeah, no." Grant responds. "Count me out!"

"Don't be such a killjoy!" Cat yells at him.

He rolls his eyes and continues following Skye down to the gym.

As soon as the pair are out of earshot, Cat spins to face Simmons.

"Oh my god, did you _see_ the way he was watching Skye?! If we weren't here, he would have screwed her into oblivion right then and there! It is going to be so much easier to get them together than I thought. The harder mission will be convincing my lovely big brother to let loose and have a bit of fun."

"Honestly, I think that particular mission is near impossible." Simmons pipes up.

"Yes, Jemma, near impossible, but not completely impossible." Cat says, smirking.

* * *

**Tada, there we have it! Hopefully there won't be as long of a break between this update and the next!**

**Natasha will make an appearance in the next chapter when the team get to the Academy, and there will be a game of laser tag...**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


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